SSI is such a pain with reviews!!! my brother has been on SSI for 10 years and sometimes they do short forms by mail and sometimes they make him go in person. last time they made him see their doctor too even tho nothing changed with his condition. total waste of time!!! and then i got so confused cuz i thought his CalWORKs would be affected too but thats county and SSI is federal so theyre different systems. the whole thing is way too complicated!!!!

Just to clarify something important about CalWORKs and SSI that might help others reading this thread: If you receive SSI, you're excluded from the CalWORKs assistance unit, but your children can still receive CalWORKs benefits if they qualify. This is what's happening in the original poster's situation. The confusing part is that while you report your SSI income to CalWORKs, it's not counted against your children's eligibility the same way earned income would be. It's subjected to different income calculation rules. Also, legitimate SSI reviews follow a predictable pattern. Medical CDRs can be scheduled anywhere from every 18 months to every 7 years depending on your condition, while SSI redeterminations (financial reviews) typically happen every 1-3 years. But they ALWAYS send written notification first.

Just to clarify something important that people often misunderstand: The guideline calculator DOES consider the father's obligation to support children from other relationships, including both biological and adopted children. However, it does NOT consider his voluntary support of stepchildren. So in your case, only his one other biological child will be factored in as a hardship deduction, not the 5 stepchildren. This is clearly stated in California Family Code Section 4071. If you go to DCSS, they will handle all aspects of your case including income verification, establishing the appropriate support amount, enforcing payment, and collecting arrears. The timeline varies but typically takes 60-90 days to get established with the first payments.

I want to thank everyone for the advice. I'm going to contact DCSS tomorrow morning and get this process started. I feel much better knowing the stepchildren won't factor into the calculation like he's been claiming all these years. I also appreciate knowing that going directly to DCSS rather than CalWORKs means I'll get the full amount of child support. I'll update once I get things moving with DCSS!

Just wanted to update that my coworker had the same issue and she finally resolved it. What worked for her was requesting that the P-EBT cards be reissued with "care of" in the address. So instead of being addressed to "Child Name" they were addressed to "Child Name c/o Parent Name" which the post office then delivered without issue. When you finally get through on the P-EBT hotline, specifically ask for this. Also explain that the post office is refusing delivery to minors so they understand the situation. They might need supervisor approval but they can adjust the mailing format.

if u still cant get thru try the ebt card customer service number 877-328-9677 and hit option 4, sometimes that gets u a real person faster. also i heard they opening new round of p-ebt this summer so dont wait 2 long 2 get it fixed

Try checking the P-EBT portal online - it might show if cards have been issued for your daughters yet. The distribution schedule is confusing because they're sending them out based on different categories and counties. Also, the CalWORKs office often doesn't have direct access to P-EBT status info since it's technically run by a different department. BUT, the worker should NEVER have hung up on you! That's completely unprofessional. I'd honestly file a complaint if you got their name. You can ask to speak to a supervisor next time you call - just say "I need to speak with a supervisor regarding unprofessional conduct during my last call." They usually transfer you right away when you use those magic words.

i had same problem but with WTW worker last month. they kept giving me wrong information about my participation hours and when i tried to explain they couldn't hear me cause my baby was crying and they hung up! i had to go in person to get it fixed which is so hard with 3 kids. some of these workers just don't care at all how stressful it is for us

One more thing - since your application was submitted in 2024, your eligibility and benefit amounts will be calculated using the new 2025 payment standards, which are slightly higher than last year. For a family of 3 (you plus twins) in most counties, the maximum monthly grant should be around $1,052. Since you applied on November 28th, if approved, you should receive prorated benefits for the days remaining in November (3 days), plus December and January in full, assuming February is when your regular monthly payments begin. Make sure all of this is accounted for in your retroactive payment.Lastly, don't forget to apply for CalFresh (food stamps) if you haven't already, plus WIC which is especially helpful for families with infants.

Thank you for all this detailed information! I really appreciate knowing the exact amount I should expect. I did apply for CalFresh and WIC at the same time. CalFresh was approved pretty quickly but still waiting on the WIC appointment. It's just the CalWORKs that seems to be taking forever.